HARTFORD, Conn. (Dec. 19, 2024) – Two local health departments will use grants from the Connecticut Health Foundation to employ community health workers (CHWs) who can respond to the needs of their communities. Ledge Light Health District in New London and the Norwalk Health Department will each receive $100,000 to demonstrate the value of CHWs in a public health setting who can serve as generalists, with the flexibility to support community members in many ways.
Community health workers build trust with their communities, improve communication to ensure needs are being met, and link community members to programs that aim to improve health outcomes. CHWs at both health departments will reflect the communities they serve — they will be bilingual and have lived experience — and address the challenges that impact those who experience the most disparities. Individuals in these positions will also help community members navigate barriers to their health by providing culturally and linguistically appropriate services.
Often, community health worker initiatives and grant funding are focused on addressing specific health conditions. However, CHWs and health department officials have said their services are most effective when they can work to address a person’s needs in a broader, more holistic way. CHWs supported through this initiative will serve as generalists, able to support the broad needs of their communities.
The health departments will collect data on the impact of CHWs on health outcomes and the return on investment for CHWs in this capacity, adding to the large body of research on the value of CHWs with specific findings related to CHWs serving as generalists within health departments. The health departments will share their findings with other local health departments across the state as part of efforts to achieve sustainable funding for community health workers and expanded services by these workers.
“Through this initiative, we hope to learn more about how to best use CHWs at our organization and our community public health system to optimize their impact in other service areas, sustain their work at Norwalk Health Department, and grow the workforce overall,” said Theresa Argondezzi, assistant director of health for the city of Norwalk.
“We are excited for this opportunity to not only broaden the reach of our CHW program but to collaborate with others to deepen our capacity to document the effectiveness of this work in improving community health and the return on investment for funders, including Medicaid,” said Jennifer Muggeo, director of health at Ledge Light Health District, which serves East Lyme, Groton, Ledyard, Lyme, New London, North Stonington, Old Lyme, Stonington, and Waterford.
“We know community health workers are extremely valuable when it comes to improving health outcomes. Our hope is these programs will also show the value of these roles within local health departments when given the latitude to be responsive to the needs of community members,” said Tiffany Donelson, president and CEO of the Connecticut Health Foundation. “Expanding community health worker services in public settings can help the state make even more progress toward eliminating health disparities.”
These grants were among 39 awarded by the Connecticut Health Foundation this quarter, totaling $1,442,000.
The other grantees are:
Charter Oak Health Center, Hartford, $150,000
This funding is for the final year of a three-year pilot program for community health workers to improve outcomes for children with asthma in the Greater Hartford area. The community health workers provide interventions to decrease emergency department visits and school absenteeism due to asthma. The workers visit the homes of families to identify asthma triggers in the home and provide education on treatment. These interventions are part of a model that has been shown to have a positive return-on-investment.
Christian Community Action, New Haven, $25,000
Mothers and Other for Justice, a program of Christian Community Action, will use this grant to train new advocates for its HEALTH (Helping Everyone Achieve Lifelong Trusted Healthcare) project. The goal is to recruit more members who are young people of color. Participants of HEALTH advocate for policy change that will improve the health of people living in low-income communities of color in Connecticut.
Connecticut Legal Services, Middletown, $50,000
This funding will support Connecticut Legal Services’ efforts to create an advocacy coalition focused on Medicaid policy. The Medicaid Advocacy Collective will operate with a health equity lens to recruit coalition participants, build consensus around a Medicaid advocacy agenda, and develop shared messaging for advocates to use during the 2025 legislative session.
Connecticut News Project, Hartford, $225,000 (3 years)
The Connecticut News Project is the parent organization of The Connecticut Mirror, a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization. This three-year grant will support coverage of health issues, policy, affordability, equity, and other health-related topics.
The Connecticut Health Foundation provides grants to media organizations because news reporting on health care provides insights, informs debates, and ensures that critical topics reach broad audiences. The funding is awarded with an understanding that the journalism will be independent, and the grant will play no role in editorial decisions about health coverage.
Connecticut Voices for Children, New Haven, $20,000
Connecticut Voices for Children will use this grant funding to relaunch its HUSKY manual, which provides information about eligibility for the state’s Medicaid program. The organization’s work will involve building relationships with state agencies, policymakers and advocates to understand the current Medicaid advocacy landscape.
Cross Street Training and Academic Center, Middletown, $65,000
The Cross Street Training and Academic Center’s Ministerial Health Fellowship is a faith-based advocacy organization that aims to address health disparities and the health needs of people of color. This funding will be used for advocacy work related to health coverage for low-income residents of Connecticut.
CT Community Nonprofit Alliance, Hartford, $30,000
The CT Community Nonprofit Alliance will use this grant funding for the second year of its Alliance Advocacy Leadership Development Cohort. The program gathers professionals from the health and human services sectors and provides them with advocacy training on policy issues that impact the communities they serve.
Enrich Health LLC, Bethany, $25,000
Enrich Health LLC will be opening a perinatal care center that will integrate lifestyle medicine, doula support, and community health workers in a group model of prenatal care. Funding from CT Health will support evaluation of how the integrated health model affects maternal and newborn outcomes as well as breastfeeding initiation and continuation rates compared to state averages.
Family Centers Inc., Greenwich, $21,000
This funding will be used to hire a consultant to develop an evaluation model to track the impact of doula services on maternal and infant health outcomes. Family Centers Inc.’s Parents as Teachers program is a home visiting model that engages parents and caregivers in children’s early development and wellness. The program was recently expanded to include doula services to address the disparity in maternal health outcomes for communities of color.
Hartford Deportation Defense, Hartford, $50,000
Hartford Deportation Defense will advocate for HUSKY expansion to all income-eligible families in Connecticut regardless of their immigration status. Advocacy efforts will include education, training and outreach to new immigrant populations in Hartford that have not been active in the HUSKY 4 Immigrants campaign.
Health Equity Solutions, Hartford, $35,000
This funding will support Health Equity Solutions in growing its Health Equity for the People by the People coalition. The coalition will educate participants on medical debt as a critical health equity issue. Participants will also receive advocacy training and be offered resources to advocate for policies related to medical debt, financial assistance, and other barriers within the health care system.
Khmer Health Advocates, West Hartford, $50,000
This grant will be used to develop a data collection tool and training curriculum that can be used by community health workers (CHWs) to gather qualitative and quantitative information about their interventions with community members. The data will be accessible in a secure database where CHWs and researchers can measure the impact over time.
Parents Available to Help, Northford, $25,000
Parents Available to Help will use this funding for its Family Caregivers as Community Leaders Project. The project offers family caregivers training and certification to become community health workers. A focus of the project will be to recruit family caregivers from marginalized communities who have children or youth with special health care needs and who identify as people of color.
The Connecticut Hospice Inc., Branford, $25,000
This grant will be used to evaluate the efficacy of a bilingual community health worker in underserved communities to support the work of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience (GUIDE) program. The goal is to raise awareness of the program, which provides care and support to families and patients, among residents of underserved communities in New Haven County.
Urban Alliance, East Hartford, $35,000
Funding will support a study that collects data on the unique barriers related to accessing health insurance and health care that disproportionately affect households of color with incomes just above the Medicaid eligibility threshold.
ADVOCACY EFFORTS TO FURTHER EXPAND HUSKY COVERAGE
Health coverage is an important part of achieving good health outcomes. Efforts to expand HUSKY coverage to people in Connecticut regardless of immigration status have been led by the HUSKY 4 Immigrants coalition. To support coalition efforts, these grants were awarded to organizations that are committed to engaging in advocacy work focused on coverage expansion.
- Building One Community, Stamford: $20,000
- Center for Children’s Advocacy, Hartford: $10,000
- Comunidades Sin Fronteras, Norwalk: $10,000
- Connecticut Worker Center, Bridgeport: $20,000
- HAVEN Free Clinic, New Haven: $10,000
- Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services Inc., New Haven: $20,000
- United Action Connecticut Inc., Plainville: $10,000
PATRICIA BAKER AWARDS FOR HEALTH EQUITY POLICY AND ADVOCACY
These grants, named for the foundation’s founding president and CEO, are intended to support grassroots organizations that are led by people of color and focus on work that advances health equity. This year’s grantees are:
- Full Citizens Coalition, New Haven: $30,000
- Hartford Health Initiative, Hartford: $30,000
- Ledge Light Health District (Black Health Collective), New London: $30,000
- New Britain Racial Justice Coalition, New Britain: $30,000
- Nonprofit Accountability Group, Hartford: $30,000
- PT Partners, Bridgeport: $30,000
SANFORD CLOUD AWARDS
The following grants were awarded as part of the Sanford Cloud Awards for Diverse Advocacy, Policy, and Equity, designed to advance health equity for people of color by investing in initiatives led by graduates of the foundation’s Health Leadership Fellows Program and Academy for Health Equity Advocacy and Leadership. The award is named in honor of Sanford Cloud Jr., the foundation’s former board chair.
Advocacy to Legacy, Windsor, $10,000
This grant will be used to continue to support the advocacy efforts to limit the sale of tobacco, nicotine and cannabis products within a certain distance from K-12 schools and daycares. The project will also engage and educate youth on the harmful health effects of tobacco and cannabis. Youth members will be involved in the research and communications for these advocacy efforts.
Greater Bridgeport Area Prevention Program, Bridgeport, $20,000
Funding will support the Restoring Hope: HIV, Health, and Healing Conference in March 2025. The conference will bring together HIV/AIDS experts to share research and resources to help mitigate the effects of HIV and increase the use of PrEP, a medicine that can reduce the risk of getting HIV, in the African American community. Findings from the conference will be shared with legislators, state agencies, and other policymakers.
Lucinda’s House, Windsor, $11,000
This funding will be used to support a project designed to use the arts to bring awareness of women of color’s experiences of maternal health care. The women will tell their stories through visual arts, photovoice, poetry, and storytelling. At the end of the project, participants will share their art at three events. The project is designed to empower women to advocate for the care they need and for the improvement of maternal and infant health outcomes.
Mount Aery Development Corporation, Bridgeport, $10,000
Funding for this project will be used to engage a consultant to work with a Head Start collaborative that includes the Alliance for Community Empowerment, Optimus Health, and Mount Aery Development Corporation. The consultant will provide training on diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging and justice for Head Start parents, staff, and teachers. The goal of the initiative is to identify and address the needs for resources for equity by those involved with Head Start.
Yale New Haven Health, New Haven, $20,000
This grant will support coalition and network building of the Healthier Greater New Haven Partnership (HGNHP), a group of health departments and districts, community action agencies, community-based organizations, faith-based organizations, business owners, and community residents. A consultant will help guide the coalition as it seeks to establish a sustainable governance and operating structure. The HGNHP will work to create meaningful community engagement in its work toward health equity.
TRUSTED MESSENGER GRANTS
Information is critical for people’s health, and often, the messenger is as important as the message itself. Messages are far more effective when they are delivered by trusted sources, and the foundation has awarded grants to trusted messenger organizations since 2020. Most recently, the foundation awarded trusted messenger grants to organizations sharing information about changes related to health care coverage. They are:
- Child And Family Agency of Southeastern Connecticut, New London: $15,000
- Hispanic Alliance of Southeastern Connecticut, New London: $15,000
- New Opportunities Inc., Waterbury: $15,000
- PT Partners, Bridgeport: $15,000
For more information, please contact Gaby Molina at gaby@cthealth.org or 860-724-1580 x 133.
About the Connecticut Health Foundation The Connecticut Health Foundation is the state’s largest independent health philanthropy dedicated to improving health outcomes for people of color. Since its creation in 1999, the foundation has awarded more than $80 million to nonprofit organizations and public entities to expand health equity, reduce health disparities, expand health coverage, and improve the health of all Connecticut residents.